


Dean Winchester's Apple Pie Thanksgiving

by orphan_account



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Thanksgiving Fic, because he needed it okay?, happy fic, i gave Dean Thankgiving, i needed a happy thanksgiving fic, like really nothing sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-06
Updated: 2013-12-06
Packaged: 2018-01-03 20:46:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1072878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean Winchester finally gets to have his apple pie Thanksgiving</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dean Winchester's Apple Pie Thanksgiving

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this and published it on my fanfiction tumblr supernatural-fan-fuck-tions.tumblr.com the day before thanksgiving. this is pre 9x09 and was written to flow right after 9x08 because i put it out right then. so yeah, pre kevin and gadriel. this is a happy fic about Dean finally getting a real Thanksgiving.

There are only a few times that Dean Winchester wishes he had had a normal, apple pie life. Of course he wishes that his mother had never burned on the ceiling, but it’s been years since Mary’s death and the sharpest edge has been taken off. For the most part, Dean knows that things are better off the way they are, and he’s stopped trying to change things. He’s come to terms with the way his life is. Still, when the holidays roll around, Dean can’t help but yearn for something that he has never had.  
  
Living on the road never really presented many opportunities for celebration. Now Dean Winchester had a place that he could call home. Sam didn’t agree on that, but Dean was adamantly holding his ground on the matter. He had a home, he had his brother, and he had a few trusted friends; there was no reason why he couldn’t have the holidays too.  
  
The idea came to him a week before Thanksgiving. Sam had bought some new spices at the store and Dean was putting them away in the pantry. He was on his way out when he noticed an aged paper discarded on the floor. Frowning, he bent down to pick it up. It was a recipe for pumpkin pie!  
  
Excitedly Dean rushed to go show Sam. “Hey Sammy, look what I found!”  
  
“Something to help with the tablet?” Sam asked hopefully as he looked up from the old book in his lap.  
  
Sam and Kevin were hard at work digging through old books. Kevin was still insistent that they find a way to translate it. He was convinced that Crowley was lying. Dean and Sam didn’t have the heart to squash his hopes, so Sam continued to help him search when he wasn’t working on a case.  
  
“Something better. It’s an old Men of Letters pumpkin pie recipe!” Dean said proudly holding it up for Sam and Kevin to see, grinning lopsidedly, a glint in his eye.  
  
“And how is that better again?” Kevin asked annoyed.  
  
“Because, little prophesying one, Thanksgiving is a week away!” Dean turned to face Sam. “Now that we have a place, we could celebrate! Pumpkin pie, turkey, stuffing, more pie...”  
  
Sam looked wearily at Dean. “We always celebrate Thanksgiving, Dean.”  
  
“Yeah, at Denny’s. But I was thinking that this year we could have our own Thanksgiving. One just like normal families have? Without desperate waitresses who took the holiday shift for extra cash. Or the third-string cooks who only work the shifts that no one else will take.”  
  
“Since when did you care about being normal?” Sam asked incredulously.  
  
“Well excuse me for thinking that it’d be nice to have a normal, apple pie Thanksgiving for once,” Dean said huffy. “Why are you both so against the idea of it anyway? Someone spit in your cider?”  
  
“Okay Dean, whatever your on is obviously blowing up brain cells and probably isn’t good for your body either. But -” he said before Dean could interject, “You can have a Thanksgiving if you want one.” Sam’s phone suddenly went off in his pocket. “Gotta take this, it’s Garth,” he said before walking out of the room to take the call.  
  
Dean rolled his eyes at his brother and then turned to the prophet. Kevin was back to examining the tablet. There were bags under his bloodshot eyes and his skin was pale. He probably hadn’t slept much in the last few days. Dean was worried about him.  
  
“Hey why don’t you go get some sleep? Or hit the showers. They have great-”  
  
Kevin cut Dean off. “Water pressure? Yeah I know. Already showered today. Also, can’t sleep, even if I tried.”  
  
Dean shrugged his shoulders, “Well I’ve got some Benadryl if you want?”  
  
Kevin rolled his eyes at Dean and gave a small smile. “You know that you aren’t just supposed to take medicines like that right?”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, don’t start in on that health crap like Sam. I swear he’s got you brainwashed,” Dean sighed. “Well lay off of the coffee and that should help.”  
  
“That’s not really the problem,” Kevin said quietly as he turned back to his notes.  
  
Dean understood immediately. Kevin was having nightmares. Dean didn’t do the touchy feely stuff, but he still felt bad for the kid. Dean had had his fair share of jarring nightmares and he knew it wasn’t fun. He noticed how small and fragile Kevin looked. Dean knew that Kevin could take care of himself well enough, but he still worried about the kid.  
  
“Hey, why don’t you come help me get ready for Thanksgiving? We could-”  
  
“No offence Dean,” Kevin cut him off again, “but I think I’ll just work on this for a while.”  
  
“Oh, okay,” Dean said awkwardly.  
  
Dean left the front room and headed to his bedroom. He placed the recipe on his nightstand and flopped down on his bed. He just didn’t understand what was so wrong about wanting a normal, apple pie Thanksgiving.  
  
☼  
  
Dean was half way through a holiday cookbook when Sam walked into the kitchen. It was the Monday before Thanksgiving and Dean was trying to figure out what he was going to make for the big feast. Dean quickly finished writing down the ingredients for the stuffing and shut the book.  
  
Sam gave Dean a look, “Really dude? You’re serious about that stuff?” He dropped his duffel on the table and took a seat across from Dean.  
  
“Well, um, yeah! Look, I still don’t see why you’re against it.” Dean said gruffly.  
  
“I’m not. I just don’t understand why you’re so ‘gung-ho’ for it all of a sudden. I mean, Betty Crocker Complete Thanksgiving Cookbook? Really?” Sam asked, raising an eyebrow at the closed cookbook on the table in front of Dean.  
  
“If we’re going to do Thanksgiving we might as well go the whole nine yards,” Dean shrugged. “And unless you know how to make this stuff off of the top of your head, we need the cookbook.”  
  
“When did you buy that thing anyway,” Sam asked, his tone changing. “I thought you were going to stay here with Kevin while I was gone?”  
  
Sam had spent the last few days over in Nebraska helping Garth on a case. It was a small crisis and Sam had managed to convince Dean that he could handle it by himself.  
  
“I haven’t left since you did,” Dean reassured him. “How’d that go anyways?”  
  
“Pretty easy actually. So get this. Turns out it was an incubus and a succubus pair that were having a fight. Like those witches we ran into in, what was it, Prosperity, Indiana a couple years back?”  
  
“The ones who were having marriage issues and took it out on the whole town?” Dean frowned trying to remember.  
  
“That’s the one. Exact same issues. Gath and I managed to kill them both pretty easily once I figured out what they were.”  
  
Dean nodded proudly at his younger brother. “Good job Sammy. Anyway, I didn’t buy it. I don’t know where it came from. It’s pretty new though, 2003?” Dean said checking the copyright date. “So it’s not from the previous owners. I don’t know how it got here; I just found it after you left.”  
  
“Ah,” was all Sam said in response. He stood up and excused himself to his room to unpack.  
  
Dean looked suspiciously at the space where his brother had been. He had wanted to drill Sam longer to figure out his issues with the holiday. Instead Dean just sighed and flipped the cookbook back open.  
  
☼  
  
It was the following day when Sam found Dean unpacking bags from the local grocery store. There were around 20 bags filled with different kinds of food.  
  
“Whoa, what’s up with all the food?” Sam inquired laughing.  
  
“It’s for Thanksgiving dinner Sammy,” Dean replied as he put the cranberries into the fridge. “I figured we could invite some people over so it wouldn’t just be the three of us.”  
  
Sam grabbed a jug of milk off of the floor and handed it to Dean who put it in the door of the fridge. “Who all are you going to invite Dean?”  
  
“We could invite Charlie and Dorothy?” Dean said questioningly, tone defensive.  
  
“How would you contact them? They’re in Oz remember? You can’t exactly just waltz right in there expecting to find them,” Sam stated.  
  
“We could have Garth over then. Cas too…” Dean’s voice faltered.  
  
“I thought Cas didn’t want to come back?” Sam furrowed his eyebrows in a frown. “He thought he’d be putting us in danger or something right?”  
  
Dean stopped putting the food away and looked down at the floor. He knew the real reason Cas couldn’t home. He couldn’t tell Sam about it though. It wasn’t the first or the last lie Dean had ever told Sam. Still, he felt a twinge of guilt for lying and for having to kick Cas out of the bunker in the first place. He let it pass.  
  
“Maybe he could come back for just the day?” Dean said hopefully. “I’m still going to call. Garth should be able to come atleast. Sheriff Jody Mills too, if she isn’t busy.”  
  
“Okay, whatever you say man. I’m going to go help Kevin. You call them and let me know how it goes,” Sam said turning to leave.  
  
“You’re not going to help?”  
  
“Well it is your Thanksgiving Dean.”  
  
“Why is it my Thanksgiving? Why can’t it be, I don’t know, our Thanksgiving?” Dean struggled to keep his voice even.  
  
“Dean, you’re the one who wanted this. You’re the one who’s making it such a huge deal. Not me. Not Kevin. So yeah, it’s your Thanksgiving.” Sam walked out of the room without waiting for Dean’s response.  
  
Dean stared at the space where Sam had just been. The look of shock and hurt in Dean’s eyes spoke louder than his words ever would. He shook his head and and returned to putting up the groceries for tomorrow.  
  
He wasn’t doing this for just him. He was doing it for all of them. Life hadn’t exactly been easy as of late. Dean’s Thanksgiving meant more to him than just food and football. It meant family. It meant together. Dean held onto those ideas as tightly as he could. He may not have had as much family to speak of at the moment. Dean did have Sam though. He had Kevin and Garth and Cas and Charlie and Jody Mills and even Dorothy.  
  
Dean could never articulate this to the others, but all he really wanted was for his family to be together, safe, and happy. Just for once single day. Or at least a few hours of a day, when they didn't have to worry about anything weird, ugly, mean or demonic. So what if Sam didn’t want to help? So what if no one bothered to show up? So what if no one ever understood what this meant to him? Dean was going to have his Thanksgiving, come hell or high water, and of course he was prepared for either one, or both. Dean understood what this holiday meant, and that all things considered, he still had plenty to be thankful for.  
  
☼  
  
Castiel was the first person on Dean’s to-call list. He picked up on the 7th ring (not that Dean had counted).  
  
Dean extended the invitation for Thanksgiving. At first Cas was curt on the phone, his tone clipped. Dean figured he must still be mad about the bunker thing. It didn’t take too long though before the Castiel that Dean knew came back. Dean thought that he might have to explain what Thanksgiving was, but Cas already knew about it. He said that he’d try to make it, but it was a long way to travel so he’d just have to see. Dean was about to offer to come pick him up. Castiel cut him off before he could though, he had to go take care of a Coke order.  
  
Dean sighed as he hung up his phone. He really hoped that Cas would come down. However, Dean was a realist; he knew that Cas probably wasn’t coming.  
  
Neither Jody nor Garth answered their phones when Dean called. He left messages on each of their voicemail with the times and his cell number to call back for the address.  
  
Dean called one more time before he went to sleep. Again, no luck with either phone. Dean grumbled as he went to sleep about how phones were meant to be answered.  
  
☼  
  
Dean spent the majority of the next day getting ready. He put the turkey out to thaw and started on some of the longer to make meals. He cleaned the kitchen, the dining room, and the front room. He made Sam and Kevin clean the bathrooms and the hallways. He made sure there was a tablecloth big enough for the table. He set eight places at the table.  
  
After a restless night, Dean woke up early the next day to start making the food. Everything had to be done by 5 o’clock, the time he had told everyone to meet for dinner.  
  
He got a call from Jody around 10:30 and one from Garth at around 11:15. Both apologized for calling so late as they had just gotten the calls. They both told him that they would try their best to try to make it, but not to wait up. Dean told them it was cool, just to show up whenever and gave them the address of a place he could go to pick them up. When Jody asked why he couldn’t give her the flat address he told her, “You can’t just give out the number to the Batcave!” She laughed and promised to call.  
  
Dean tried his best to not let it get him down. He busied himself by cooking. Miraculously, he had managed to finish every on time, without burning anything. He arranged everything on the table and left the extra seats there, even though he knew they’d be empty.  
  
He went to go get Sam and Kevin to eat. He looked all over the bunker but couldn’t find them anywhere. He circled back to the dining room after 15 minutes of searching in vain. Dean finally got the idea to call Sam. He heard the phone go off in the front room and went to go retrieve it. It was just sitting there next to Sam’s book.  
  
Swearing, Dean grabbed the phone and went back to the dining room. When he looked up from Sam’s phone his jaw almost dropped!  
  
There seated at the table was Sam, Kevin, Garth, Jody, Cas, and even Charlie and Dorothy!  
  
“Surprise!” Charlie, Kevin, Garth, and Jody all yelled.  
  
“Happy Thanksgiving Dean!” Sam said from the opposite end of the table.  
  
Dean was shocked. He had been so sure that no one was coming. And yet here they all were, sitting around the table smiling up at him. “What...how?” Dean managed to ask, still staring at everyone.  
  
“Sam?” Dean asked.  
  
“Yep. We can talk about that later though. First let’s eat!” Sam said laughing.  
  
“I’m starving,” Kevin said.  
  
Dean laughed too and sat at the other head of the table, across from Sam, with Cas on his right and Charlie on his left. They all ate happily and the story was told in between bites of turkey and mashed potatoes, with the occasional pause to pass a plate here or there.  
  
“But Sam, I thought that you didn’t want to help out with Thanksgiving?” Dean asked.  
  
“That’s just what he wanted you to think,” Kevin interjected proudly.  
  
“I wanted it to be a surprise-” Sam was cut off mid-thought.  
  
Garth chirped in, “That’s why we had to lie to you on the phone.”  
  
“Surprises are way cooler, right?” Charlie added happily.  
  
“It started with the cookbook. Once you found that recipe for pumpkin pie-” Sam was again cut off.  
  
“Which is delicious, you have to let me look at it later. I could swear I’ve had this before, but it tastes so much different, so much better, that I’m not sure anymore,” Dorothy added. She had started her plate with only a turkey leg and a piece of the pumpkin pie.  
  
“- I left you the cookbook that I got in town before heading to Garth’s,” Sam finished.  
  
“So that was you?” Dean asked. “You left that cookbook and then gave me all kinds of grief about it?” Sam nodded smiling and Dean look at him proudly. “Nicely done, nicely done.”  
  
“When he met up with me to help me out on that case he told me about his idea,” Garth said around bites of stuffing.  
  
“I also called Jody and Cas then too,” Sam said.  
  
“Yes, he arranged Garth coming to pick me up and giving me a ride here,” Cas added after a drink of apple cider.  
  
“And you actually came,” Dean noted with a small smile.  
  
“Yes, Sam and Garth both said that it was important to you that we come. So I simply informed my boss that I would be leaving for the holiday and he agreed,” Cas said matter of factly.  
  
“And then last night after you went to bed I found the key to Oz in your room and went to find Charlie and Dorothy,” Sam said.  
  
“But you said it’d be pointless to try to find them in there?” Dean asked.  
  
“It didn’t end up being as difficult as I thought.” Sam shrugged his shoulders.  
  
“He came and found us and told us the situation. We dropped everything and came. Took a bit of work, but we finally made it here before noon,” Charlie informed him.  
  
“They hid out in one of the back rooms with me while Sam left. Sam was right in guessing that you’d never go looking for us there,” Kevin added in. So that’s where he had gotten off to.  
  
Jody continued the story from there. “We met Sam at a small rural town about a half hour away from here. I followed Sam in the impala here. Garth and Castiel?” Jody stumbled over the odd name. Dean didn’t know what the had told he about him,but she seemed to get along with him well enough as they sat next to each other. “Uh, followed behind me in Garth’s car. When we got here Sam had us wait in the garage until it was time.”  
  
“Once it was time, I left my phone in the front room. I figured that when you couldn’t find us anywhere you’d call my phone. So we waited and snuck in while you were getting my phone,” Sam finished.  
  
“Not bad, not bad,” Dean admitted. “You sure got one over on me.”  
  
The dinner continued on from there. Charlie and Dorothy told everyone about their time in Oz. Garth and Kevin caught up. Jody told funny stories about some drunks that she had arrested in the past few weeks. Sam and Dean took turns telling embarrassing stories about one another. Castiel didn’t speak much; he spent most of the time with a confused look on his face, but he was still content to be with the Winchesters again.  
  
After dinner, Jody presented Dean with an apple pie exclusively for him. “I made it for you just in case I got called in to work today and really couldn’t come.”  
  
“Thank you!” Dean said salivating and he cut himself a piece. “I do love me some pie!”  
  
After everyone was stuffed beyond capacity, the group headed to the game room to watch the football game together. Sam and Kevin had dragged some couches and chairs in there so everyone had a place to sit. Dean was one of the last to go in.  
  
Sam called Dean back, “Hey can you hold on for a second?”  
  
“What’s up Sammy?”  
  
“I’m sorry about before, I just-”  
  
Dean held a hand out to stop his brother. “It’s okay, you were just trying to make it a surprise so it’d be better for me right?” Sam nodded earnestly. “So it’s cool I get it. Thanks for all….”  
  
“Yeah,” Sam said reading his mind. “Sure thing Dean.”  
  
Dean was about to turn back to the game room when Sam’s eyes flashed blue.  
  
“Dean,” a voice not quite like Sam’s said.  
  
“Uh, hi-ya Zeke. So what’s up with um, Cas? Is this okay?” Dean asked timidly.  
  
“Yes, for just today it is fine. I understand that this is an important holiday for you Dean. Sam wanted to do it for you and I assume that it is beneficial for Castiel as well. I do owe him that, although he should not stay here long,” Ezekiel said carefully.  
  
“Well, uh, thank you then. From both of us.”  
  
“You are welcome Dean. Happy Thanksgiving,” Ezekiel said before his eyes flashed blue, signaling the change back to Sam.  
  
“Come on, let’s go watch the game,” Sam said walking around his older brother and into the gameroom.  
  
Dean smiled fondly at the back of his brother’s head. His brother had understood without Dean even telling him. Sam had brought everyone together, just like Dean had wanted. Everyone was together, everyone was safe, and as far as he could tell, everyone was happy. Even If it was just that day, and the world would probably fall apart tomorrow, Dean was happy. He finally had his apple...and pumpkin…. pie Thanksgiving. 


End file.
